Letting the Numbers Decide – Maybe

Over the past two years I’ve kept data on the various targets I’ve practiced on or shot during competition. By January of 2014 I had been shooting a bow for four months. Initially, I didn’t keep the data. Initially, I wasn’t certain I be shooting a bow for very long. By most standards, I still have not been shooting a bow very long. Throughout this ongoing collecting of data, 3-spots remain dominate – I mean I have the most data on 3-spots. The past month I’ve shot twice in competitions where 5-spots were the target. Saturday was one of those days.

Going into Saturday’s event I was expecting to shoot a 300. I dropped seven. Four of the shots were simply off. Minutes before we shot my stablizers slipped and had to be tightened. The side bar was not exactly right and I shot a few arrows a little wide to the left, still 5’s, before recognizing the problem.

It took a few more scoring shots to find the problem and adjust. I shot one 4 while preparing to let down. I was shocked I hit the four. Another four came when someone’s arrow smacked into the back wall which was a surprise. The bang caused just me to twitch and that was all it took to release the hinge.

This and other 5-spots are recorded and entered into an Excel Spreadsheet. I am working toward finding the right choices for me between a Mathews Apex 7 and Elite Energy 35 using a thumb versus hinge release. The data collected during this 5-spot tournament were, of course, entered.

Reviewing the data I can see my average score with the Elite is 298 versus 293 with the Apex 7. The data further reveals that the average thumb release score is 296 compared to 294 with the hinge.

Today I shot with the Apex 7 and a Scott Pro Advantage hinge. I ended up with a 293, average. The prior time I shot I used the Elite and a TruFire thumb release. Then I scored a 294, below average for the Elite. Both were in competitions.

Line graph of 5-spot scores from Jan 2015 through Jan 2017

Statistically (the math part only) there is not a significant interaction among the bow/release variances. But, in competitions where one point can separate 1st from 2nd place it means a lot.

I’ll keep on with the Mathews for a few weeks along with the hinge. I feel like that might be a better combination in the long run. But, I’ll be objective and let the numbers decide.